


Cursed Are Those

by ivarara



Series: other hk writing [3]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: also lexell is a new oc!!, ive never actually fought a kingsmould but i fear them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2020-12-28 21:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21143378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivarara/pseuds/ivarara
Summary: ...who turn against the King.





	1. Chapter 1

She’s furious, full of emotion, pent-up from ages and ages of waiting and simmering for a moment to strike.

The moment is now.

“What kind of King are you?” she shouts accusingly. Xero stands at her side, nail at the ready, facing the Kingsmoulds and the Pale King himself. Various Palace attendants huddle behind the King and the Kingsmoulds warily. “All this suffering. For what cause?”

“To seal the blinding light, as you may know--”

“_For what cause?_” she bellows.

“Ultimately, preservation of the Kingdom of Hallownest.”

“These vessels, these _children_, are not your rooks to be played with. They are not a staple for you to play God,” Lexell seethes. “They are beings, who are born and raised and _live._”

Xero stands proud and tall next to her, awaiting a signal. He’s stoic, his mask hides any emotion.

Lexell is so enraged that it is obvious in her gestures.

She points a hand back towards the Abyss. “How many have you doomed, left to rot away in that hellish place? Alone, uncared for, rejected.” She points an accusing finger, glaring daggers. “How many have you killed? How many of _your own children_ have you _slaughtered?!_”

The Pale King stares idly at them. He knows he is truly safe. He knows these are just words trying to evoke an action. He is above acting out. He is above reacting to provocation.

He is above all.

Lexell snarls. “You think yourself so pure and mighty, but you are nothing more than tainted with their blood. All of you, you’re no better than anyone else. You’re advocating this killing, this murdering, and you’re doing nothing about it!” She makes a sweeping gesture to the attendants and employees. “You are no better than He.”

The King is silent. Lexell breathes heavily at her outbursts. Xero remains still.

“Well?” his deep voice prompts. “Are you above defending your own honor, Pale King? Will you refute these accusations, or admit you have been in the wrong?”

“I will admit nothing,” the King shrugs. “What I am doing is necessary to preserve the Kingdom’s well-being. To find the pure, hollow vessel is to save this land. To contain the light is to ensure the future.”

“But why throw the unhollow ones out?” Lexell retorts. “Why not love them for what they are? Love them like any father would love his child.”

“He probably has no notion of that,” Xero snorts loudly. “He harbors no love for his Kingdom. Only greed.”

For some strange reason, this evokes a reaction. A twitch of the Pale King’s eye betrays the surge of irritation that flows through him.

“I will not be spoken of in this manner,” he booms, “in my own court. Beg for mercy for your actions; I will consider letting you leave unscathed.”

“As if I would scamper away from a confrontation,” Xero laughs. “Not all of us are similar to you.”

Lexell holds her head high. “I refuse to back down as well, _your highness_,” she sneers.

“Very well. You have sealed your fates.” He turns to address the Kingsmoulds. “Do not kill them outright. That would be too merciful. Prolong their suffering, drag it out and make it last.” He turns back to the traitors. “May the Void have mercy on your pitiful souls.” He turns and whisks away, the herd of confused and frightened attendants and servants following like a shadow.

The Kingsmoulds stomp twice before they approach menacingly.

“We’re in for it now,” Xero notes idly. “One thing you must learn is that you have to be willing to take a blow for the cause.”

“I’m well aware,” Lexell deadpans. “There’s a reason I show up prepared to fight, fool.” She unsheathes her nail from on her back and readies it. 

Xero follows suit. “Still. It’s a lesson often learned in this field.”

Lexell snorts. “What’s a proper rebellion without a shell-kicking or two?”

Xero chuckles lowly. “Fair point.”

The Kingsmoulds are strong and stout. Their clawblades sing through the air, whistling as they are thrown. The Kingsmoulds themselves are deathly silent as they fight, but their intention is clear.

Defend.

_ Kill._

A clawblade whizzes past Lexell’s head and she dodges swiftly. “So, what’s the plan now?”

Xero grunts as a blade connects with his shoulder armor. “We fight as long as we can.”

“I can handle that,” she confirms with a sinister gleam in her eyes.

Kingsmoulds are renown for their studiness, but all the gleaming armor covered a frail, fragile body. If you can get under that armor, you have defeated them. Target the faces and joints, her mind reminds her as she twists and turns and fights. Get beneath the armor. Get to the core.

Xero grunts again. “How are you holding up?”

“Perfectly fine,” she chimes, deflecting another clawblade with a sturdy wing. It ricochets off to the side, leaving the guard unarmed, which she takes advantage of. She watches as it’s Void body melts away at being torn through. “How about you, warrior?”

“Well, not as--ugh,” Xero groans as a clawblade clips his neck dangerously. 

“Xero?” she slows and turns. “Are you alright?”

“Keep fighting,” he purposely avoids answering. “As long as you can.”

She begins to worry. Are they in over their heads? Another Kingsmould swings at her, and she just barely manages to dodge and deflect the blow. A third reaches to grab at her, and she holds her nail in front of her face to parry it, grappling with the guard for a short moment before shoving them back.

“Xero, there’s more coming,” she frets. “Has it been long enough?”

Xero doesn’t answer. He’s fighting mightily, but tiring. “Yes. Let’s--”

Something hits the back of Lexell’s head with a _thwack!_ that makes her mind ache. She collapses to the ground in a daze, vaguely hearing Xero call out to her. She struggles to stand, her head still throbbing and reeling from the blow. Before she can get to her feet, an armored foot stomps her head back down to the ground. She struggles feebly, but can’t move from this position.

“Lexell!” Xero shouts.

Something hits again, even harder. She can feel her mask cracking from the pressure of the foot standing on her and the collision of the clawblades on her head.

_ Thwack!_ Another blow to the top of her head.

Another to the right side.

A final, heaving blow lands on top of the last, completely shattering away the mask covering her face. She shrieks at the feeling of protection crumpling away like paper, curling into herself.

Xero, with renewed energy, barges into the thatch of Kingsmoulds like a battering ram, shoving them aside with brute force. As they stagger back to their feat and regain their weapons, he kneels down next to Lexell. 

“Yes, I’d say now is a good time to retreat,” he remarks dryly. “Stay with me, Lexell. We’ll get you patched up once again, and you will fight another day.”

Xero charges out of the White Palace, a place so serene and pristine, but filled with horrors and tragedies unknown to the Kingdom.

_ Yet._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexell is back to work.

The life of an assassin is quite the lonely one.

She’s never had the chance or time for trysts or partners, nor had she had any interest in any. With the live she lives, it would only recklessly put another’s sake at risk.

So, for the most part, she tunes it out.

But the feelings fester, occasionally. The urge to find someone that cared about her deeper than simply a friendship. Xero was there, yes, but that was a brotherly, bickering sibling-esque relationship.

She shakes her head. Of all the times to think of it, now is not it.

The bug she’s sent with a mark on looks around anxiously. A higher-up in Hallownest’s hierarchy, taking them out would leave a gaping hole in the control of the kingdom if left unattended. She doubted the King would notice, at first, as oblivious and self-centered as he is.

She focuses on the target, noting the civilians bustling around them. They have to massive guards hulking over them, but they would be easily slain with Lexell’s prowess. The civilians, however, were not to be touched. Lexell may be ruthless, but she is not careless in her work. She will not harm the innocent. 

Twiddling an antenna, she bides her time. The right moment hardly shows itself when expected, as she has learned. You must be ready when it is least expected to appear.

And it does.

The guards are distracted. The target is vulnerable.

Lexell readies her nail, and snaps down from the railing she’s perched on, slamming into the ground between the guards and knocking her quarry off their feet.

Do not think into it, warrior. You know how it goes. They will plead, beg, cry, but if they were truly sorry for what was happening, they would use their power to stand up against it.

The bug’s eyes are wide with unrestrained fear as they look up to their killer. The guards have noticed now, their shields up and ready for dealing blows.

“Y-you wouldn’t!” The bug stammers. “Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, quite,” Lexell answers softly. 

“Then leave me be!”

“I cannot let you live for the crimes you have sat and watched idly,” she snarls. “You know what He is doing to His children, and you say nothing.”

“I c-can’t! He’d have my head before the s-sentence w-was out!” They panic.

“No.” Lexell had expected this. “You’re high enough that he would at least listen to your input.”

“He is single-minded in His task! He wouldn’t!”

The guards grunt as they ready themselves, their shields and nails at the ready. One poises a shield for a throw to knock her off her feet.

She scoffs to herself. An amateur move. When you cannot fathom what your opponent will do, why not just barge into them?

The shield flies, cracking into a post behind her as she ducks swiftly. She escapes unscathed, hands around the bug’s throat as they wriggle and panic.

“L-listen to me! I can cut you a deal, make an exchange in your favor!” They spew. “Geo? Is it Geo you want? I can hook you up with more Geo than you’ve seen in your entire life!”

“I’ve no business for currency,” she huffs.

“Then what will it take?”

“Tell the miserable, filthy ruler that he’s no more a ruler than he is a mass-murderer.”

“B-b-but I can’t do that if I’m...you know.”

“Then your guards will spread the word in your absence,” she shrugs. Her nail is drawn pointed at their throat menacingly.

The bug gulps. Their pristine clothing is tattered and soaked by the City of Tears’ rain, scuffed by dirt from the walkway beneath them.

The post behind her creaks. Structural damage, then. Impressive, for a brute like that.

She looks up from her prey, noting the failing post’s area. Huddled underneath it are patrons hoping to escape the rain, but likely frozen in place at the spectacle taking place before them. 

_ Children, Lexell, there are children there!_

And there are--a pair of younger pillbugs play in a puddle near the edge of the overhang, oblivious to the structure’s failing integrity. Others are bustling out of the way, but they are so engrossed in their fun that they do not notice.

_ So, what will you do? Finish your job, or save your reputation?_

She growls to herself, slamming the target into the ground roughly. _“Remember what I said. I will come back for you,”_ she hisses at them, shoving them away curtly and clicking into action. She flings herself towards the falling awning, barreling into the two children. They squeak in surprise at the contact, but Lexell ignores them for the sake of integrity. 

She is almost out from under the overhang when if finally falls. A beam slams into her back, knocking the air out of her, sending her into a fit of wheezing breaths. Her wings ache; they’re durable, but not indestructible. 

But the children are saved. They stare up at her perilously, seeing her as a stranger instead of a savior. She doesn’t blame them.

“What are you doing?” someone shouts.

“She saved their lives!” another points out. “She saved them!”

Lexell does not stick around to listen to the conversation afterwards. She knows her name will be spat upon, dragged through the dirt for her lifestyle of choice.

But, in her eyes, she has done something worthy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexell and Rhin bide their time. There's a storm brewing.

She fumes. To put it simply, she festers and seethes in her own thoughts.

“Rhin, we cannot just sit and bide our time. The longer we wait, the more He...kills.”

“I know, I know,” the rhino beetle assures. She wraps bindings around the handle of her scythe meticulously, focused on many tasks as her mind wanders.

The dragonfly, however, is not finished. “They don’t deserve anything they’re being handed. They’re kids, Rhin! How many of them got to experience genuine love and affection before they were seen as regrets and thrown aside?”

Rhin stops. “Lexell, I don’t quite know.”

Lexell stands and paces furiously, hands balled into fists.

“These children were not born. Being born means a child is given life, an eternity laid out for them to discover and explore. To be born is to be loved by the parents, and treasured by family. To be born is to understand frailness and rely on others to keep the newborn safe. These vessels were not born. They were made. They were created to serve a purpose-- and that purpose has nothing to do with love or family.”

Rhin is silent for a moment. “You’re correct.”

“So, why aren’t we doing anything? We’re sitting back idly, scuffing and scraping our feet through the dirt as we bide time!”

“Lexell, I understand you feel...strongly, for the Pale King’s children,” the beetle starts. “I do as well. Many do, as you know. But we cannot rush out in the heat of a frenzied mind to exact justice. It would do no good.”

“The longer we wait, the more He kills!”

“Yes, but what good would it do if we were to get ourselves killed in the process? We’d do no good in the long run.”

“I just--” Lexell sighs as she slumps over, holding her weary head in unstable palms. “I want their suffering to end. He wants to keep His kingdom eternal, but it’s a lost cause. He’s driven by greed and power and stubbornness. Killing His own is just a tedious task to be done to Him. It’s not even a sin in His eyes. It’s a job to do.”

“You’re right there.”

“A power-hungry, maniacal ruler trying to keep a crumbling kingdom in stasis because He refuses to face the consequences of His own actions. That’s all this is, Rhin. It’s stubborn. It’s unruly. It’s pitiful.”

“The Radiance would likely harm those of Hallownest, though. She--”

“The Radiance is only angered because the King essentially erased Her from existence!” Lexell blurts. “He stole Her believers, Her followers, made them forget entirely that She existed and that there was only Him to hail.”

“Lexell--”

“Do not try to calm me down by defending Him!”

Rhin stays quiet, wisely. 

“None of this would happen if He wasn’t such a...an _ignorant fool_. Stubborn. Prideful. I could go on.”

Rhin hums.

“And He thinks He is safe merely because He has guards and followers?” Lexell says. “That by intimidation, He is well? He knows we exist out here. He knows we’re discontent. He thinks we’re too afraid to do anything drastic because of Kingsmoulds and publicity.

“I, for one, am not. I will not allow this to happen any longer, Rhin. I cannot.”

“What are you planning, then? I’m not letting you go anywhere without a plan beforehand.”

“Simple. Blitz, Xero, you, and I will storm Him one of these days. Catch Him off-guard. Between you three, the Kingsmoulds will not be an issue. We save the King for last. Watch His pitiful wyrm self write in pain and agony on the ground before we finish what we started.”

“Do we drag them into this as well?”

“Blitz feels just as strongly about the children, but lacks direction. Xero will join us simply because he defies the King in his own.”

Both are silent for a moment. Lexell heaves a sigh, laden with pent-up tears.

“Do you think they dream, Rhin? Those poor souls, condemned; do they dream while in the nothingness? I can’t stand to think that they’d continue suffering even after being called ‘regrets’ and thrown out like an unsatisfactory item.”

“We can hope,” Rhin offers warily. “There’s no proof of what goes on down there.”

Lexell clenches her fists again, fingers digging deeply into her palms.

“Oh! I heard word the other day of something you’ll quite enjoy.” Rhin tries to steer the topic away from vengeance and misery to something more light-hearted. “I hear there’s a vessel in there, helping others escape and live their own lives.”

“There is?” Lexell whips around to look at Rhin.

“Yes! I heard talk on Trader’s Road that this vessel, Avant, is rumored to be the first vessel deemed ‘unhollow’ and thrown aside. Once they awoke, they took to helping their siblings recover and escape.”

“They’re escaping? They’re living?”

“Indeed. Avant escorts them up to Greenpath or the Fungal Wastes or Dirtmouth, and lets them go with wise words and warnings. Many have passed through Lifebreather’s Kingdom unnoticed, but lately, more and more are showing.”

Lexell’s eyes close as her thorax swells with pride and joy. “Those dear children, finding a second chance at life…”

“Lifebreather has mentioned making it a point that the vessels would be welcome and safe in Her kingdom. Many are inclined to agree with her; after all, it’s no secret what they’ve been through.”

“She has?”

Rhin nods cheerfully. “When she was last out of the Capital, she was speaking of it. Making them welcome, finding ways for them to recover a purpose in their lives, even if temporarily. Have you heard of the one that’s taken refuge in the Living Forest?”

“A vessel? Here?”

“They’ve hidden themselves in the Forest’s overgrowths, but they’re quite affable, from what I have heard. Poor soul was impaled on a Lifeblood plant that broke off inside them and festered once they were saved and peaceful. Sprouts and leaves out of every joint, they say. Still, they’re as kind as can be.”

“I’d suspect nothing less of them,” Lexell says sincerely. “They’ve been through enough that they know the value of kindness in this world. Although, I do not blame any of them for hostility, either.”

“Oh, there’s a fair share of those, too. They tend to keep to themselves, however.”

Lexell smiles broadly. “Rhin, they’re living! They’re recovering!” She pauses. “Do you think any of the well-matched ones would aid us?”

“Isn’t that asking a little much of children?”

“Some of them got to be older before left behind. Like the Pure Vessel themself.”

“I will admit, the notion of the King getting a taste of His own medicine from His own ‘failures’ is appetizing.”

“Tell Blitz and Xero to spread the word next time you speak with them. I want this far-spread, but not so far that the Pale King finds out.

“We’ll avenge their pasts, and those who did not wake back up, Rhin. They will not go silently into the dark. We will speak on behalf of their muted voices with words that ring louder than any sound any bug has heard before.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY so i have an idea on what to do with this! if you have an OC or two [or more! honestly there's no limit!], let me know!! send me a reference and maybe a tidbit about their personality and fighting styles to incorporate into the later chapters of this fic!!


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